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participants in this study were aware of cross-contamination,
they did not feel confident in their ability to deal with it, or
they found the necessary protective behaviors too difficult
or confusing to implement. The consequences, particularly
for young women, are significant because their fear prevents
them from preparing meat dishes at home (even for those
who are not vegetarian), which would be more economical
than purchasing prepared foods. Interestingly, Australian
parents ranked food budgeting skills as the least important
topic to be taught to primary school children (1); however,
this was a desired topic identified by participants in this
study. How young is too young to teach these (and other)
food-related skills?
Complementary to the findings of other researchers (6,
39), most participants herein believed they did a better job
than their roommates of keeping the kitchen clean. This
optimistic bias occurs when people consider themselves
less likely to experience a negative event compared with the
average person (13) and has been identified as a barrier to get
consumers to adopt safe food handling practices (3). Only
three participants in the current study admitted that their
overall food skills were low; however, when asked about the
areas in which they felt least confident, lack of knowledge in
the critical area of food safety suggests that low food skills
were more prevalent than were acknowledged. Young adults
often overestimate their actual abilities and best practices
regarding food safety (6, 11), and the fact that one in eight
Canadians are affected by foodborne illness every year (14)
confirms this overestimation.
A marginal, but potentially significant, finding was that
participants who were vegan, vegetarian, or pescatarian
believed that they did not have to worry about food safety
because they did not handle meat. Although this warrants
further investigation, Worsley et al. (52) found something
similar: vegetarian diets were negatively related to better
food safety knowledge. They surmised that following such
diets may lead to more concentration on the diet rather
than food safety. It may also be lack of awareness about the
sources of foodborne illness. Many participants in this study
talked about the risk of foodborne illness from Salmonella,
primarily through cross-contamination when handling raw
chicken; however, following Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill
guidelines (www.fightBAC.org) can prevent most foodborne
illness cases. Furthermore, many young people may not
know that Salmonella is also spread through contaminated
water, the environment, other people, and pets (5). Thus, not
washing hands after handling pets and allowing pets to walk
on food preparation surfaces are risky behaviors. Burke et al.
(2) found that only 38% of young adults positively identified
food safety risks associated with preparing food in a kitchen
with a pet present.
From July 2021 to June 2022, of the 68 food recalls related
to Salmonella in Canada, covering >331 products, only 5
contained chicken (16). Recalled products included peanut
312 Food Protection Trends July/August
butter, organic poppy seeds, various confectionaries, infant
formula, sesame seeds and products, onions, salad kits,
microgreens, tofu, goreng, cumin powder, ranch seasoning,
and various dry goods (as a result of rodent infestation) (16).
Food safety education therefore needs to ensure that young
people, particularly those who follow vegan, vegetarian, or
pescatarian diets and do not perceive themselves at risk, are
taught that meats are not the only sources of foodborne illness.
A large percentage of the population continues to wash
raw poultry and is not aware that this practice is unsafe (48).
The good news is that people often stop this practice when
they are informed of the correct behavior. Research also
suggests that the messaging around not washing poultry
should instead focus on the importance of hand washing
and cleaning and sanitizing surfaces (38). This is valuable
information that would be beneficial for working with all
types of food and should therefore be emphasized in food
safety education.
Similar to the findings of other researchers-where having
taken a food and nutrition course did not benefit college
or university students in terms of risky eating behaviors
(4, 7)-most of the young women in this study who had
taken such a course stated that they were least confident in
food safety and storage. Either curriculum is not meeting
young people's needs or the information is not being
retained. In particular, most participants lacked food safety
knowledge about handling meat. Chuang et al. (6) found
the same knowledge gap. Although some of our participants
recognized that thermometers would confirm that meat or
poultry was cooked thoroughly, not one admitted to using a
thermometer, and several stated that they did not know what
correct internal temperatures should be. Similar to findings
by Lazou et al. (24), students in the current study also
reported using visual cues to indicate the end of the cooking
process. This dramatically increases the risk of foodborne
illness (11).
The most intriguing finding that contributes new
information to the literature is that many young women
express extreme fear about working with raw meat. Although
young men have reported fear associated with cooking,
they were more afraid of being embarrassed for their lack
of food skills (39). Fear of working with raw meat however
has rarely been reported as a barrier to food preparation. In
their exploratory qualitative research with 16 participants,
Stead et al. (42) categorized approximately half of their
participants as taking a fearful but hopeful approach to
cooking. Their fears were focused on the task of cooking as
well as the planning and organization of meals. No reference
was made to food safety. In another small study of barriers
and facilitators to cooking from " scratch " (22), only one
participant talked about being fearful of working with raw
meat. The fact that several young women in the current study
independently made the same comments about working with
raw meat requires further investigation. As Lavelle et al. (22)
http://www.fightBAC.org
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